In Photos: BJP Drops Top Leaders, MLAs in First List for Karnataka Election 2023

Some prominent BJP leaders were not given tickets to contest polls scheduled for 10 May. Who are they?

Who are the top leaders dropped by the BJP as its first list of candidates came out on 11 April?

(Image: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar did not make it to the first of candidates for Karnataka election 2023. His constituency, Hubballi-Dharwad (Central) does not figure in the list, leaving his camp in distress. Shettar is a six-time MLA from the constituency and has considerable clout within the BJP.

However, in the recent past the BJP central leadership had asked him not to contest this election as the party has "seen his clout diminish," sources said. He opposed the move stating, a former chief minister of his stature should be “treated with respect.”

It is not clear whether the BJP will succumb to pressure from Shettar’s followers and announce his candidature in the second list. The BJP announced candidates for 189 out of the 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka.

Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Minister KS Eshwarappa declared his retirement from electoral politics a day before the BJP released its first list on 11 April. Eshwarappa’s retirement was only to prevent a disgraceful exit from the first list, it is being argued in Karnataka political circles. This because the 74-year-old was instrumental in building the BJP’s clout in Karnataka and his retirement from politics, if voluntary, would have been a big event for the BJP in the state. Instead, Eshwarappa retired by sending a short letter to BJP President JP Nadda.

The BJP has not declared a candidate for his seat – Shivamogga (Urban). Reportedly, Eshwarappa had suggested his son KE Kantesh as a candidate for the seat. However, it is not clear whether the BJP will agree to this demand as Eshwarappa had lost some of his clout in the party when he was forced to resign as Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in 2022. Eshwarappa was accused of corruption and abetting the death of a contractor Santosh Patil, who died by suicide allegedly because he was forced to pay hefty bribes to get building work sanctioned.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and three-time MLA Laxman Savadi was not given Athani ticket. He had lost the seat in 2018 to Mahesh Kumathalli of the Congress. Kumathalli later joined the BJP and won the seat back in the by-election. Kumathalli was one among the 17 MLAs who quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2019. Subsequently the BJP overthrew the Congress-JD(S) government and came to power in the state. As per the first list, the BJP has decided to continue with Kumathalli’s candidature over Savadi’s.

Speaking to the press on 12 April, Savadi threatened to resign from the BJP. He said, “I am a politician who has self respect. I will not take a begging bowl (to the party leaders) to get a ticket.” On 12 April, Savadi’s followers staged protests to condemn the party’s decision to exclude him

Raghupathi Bhat made news when a Hijab protest broke out in his constituency, Udupi, in December 2021. The MLA was one of the first leaders to accuse the now banned Popular Front of India of having prompted six Muslim women students to demand their right to wear hijab at a Pre-University College in Udupi. Following the Muslims students’ protest, Hindu students wore saffron shawls in several colleges in Udupi and surrounding constituencies asking their educational institutions to ban hijab on campus. Later, the Karnataka government banned hijab in colleges and the Supreme Court upheld this decision.

Bhat, who had issued vitriolic statements in which he accused Muslim women protesters of having got the support of Islamic terrorist outfits including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), did not make it to the BJP’s first list. On 12 April, he said he was assured of a ticket “till the last minute.”

However, the party favoured another controversial figure Yashpal Suvarna for the ticket in Udupi. Suvarna has been affiliated to Bajrang Dal and other Hindu right-wing outfits and had played a pivotal role in opposing hijab in educational institutions. As per The Quint’s own ground reports, Suvarna had successfully triggered the saffron shawl protests with the help of Hindu Jagaran Vedike of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Another BJP MLA who has not got ticket this year despite their role in anti-hijab protests is Haladi Srinivas Shetty. Shetty, who was the incumbent MLA in Kundapur had allowed saffron shawl protests to go unrestricted in colleges that fell within his constituency. It is from the Kundapur colleges that saffron shawl protests spread to other parts of the state leading to a massive law and order crisis.

As per the BJP’s first list, Kiran Kumar Kodgi will contest in Kundapur.  Kodgi is believed to be a loyalist of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. As Shetty who had contested as an independent candidate too joined the BJP on the insistence of Yediyurappa, the BJP preferring Kodgi may not raise protests.  

The BJP’s sitting MLA in Belagavi (North) constituency, Anil Benake (left) will not contest this year as the BJP has fielded Dr Ravi Patil. Benake’s followers staged protest in the constituency on 12 April. It is believed, Benake was denied ticket as he had fallen out the party’s favour following Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute. Benake was accused of having taken a soft stand against pro-Maharashtra protesters who claimed Maharashtra’s stake on some villages in Karnataka.

Another controversial figure who did not get a ticket this election is Goolihatti Shekar, who had, in 2021, accused Christian missionaries of proselytizing Hindus in Karnataka. Shekar had claimed in the state Assembly that his mother and several others from Hosadurga constituency were forcefully converted to Christianity. Following Shekar’s allegations, Karnataka government started a survey of Churches and prayer halls of Christians. In 2022, the government also passed Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill to prevent religious conversions.

However, Shekar fell out of the party’s favour when he raised corruption allegations against the BJP government in Karnataka. He alleged massive financial irregularities in the com missioning of Upper Bhadra irrigation project, which has been a flagship development project for the BJP government. In Hosadurga, S Lingamurthy will contest instead of Shekar.